Touch systems are well known in the art and typically include a touch screen having a touch surface on which contacts are made using a pointer. Pointer contacts with the touch surface are detected and are used to generate corresponding output pointer position data representing areas of the touch surface where the pointer contacts are made. There are basically two general types of touch systems available and they can be broadly classified as “active” touch systems and “passive” touch systems.
Active touch systems allow a user to generate pointer position data by contacting the touch surface with a special pointer that usually requires some form of on-board power source, typically batteries. The special pointer emits signals such as infrared light, visible light, ultrasonic frequencies, electromagnetic frequencies, etc. that activate the touch surface.
Passive touch systems allow a user to generate pointer position data by contacting the touch surface with a passive pointer and do not require the use of special pointers in order to activate the touch surface. A passive pointer can be a finger, a cylinder of some material, or any other suitable object that can be used to contact some predetermined area of interest on the touch surface. Since special active pointers are not necessary in passive touch systems, battery power levels and/or pointer damage, theft, or pointer misplacement are of no concern to users.
Typically, touch screens may be used in conjunction with computers, where computer-generated images are displayed on the touch screen. A user may then contact the touch screen in order to, for example, create markings or writings which appear superimposed over the displayed computer-generated images. Alternatively, a user may wish to select an area of a computer-generated image displayed on the touch screen, where based on the selected region or area, an application program running on the computer executes one or more functions (e.g., generating another graphical image). In addition to computer generated images, a myriad of other devices are capable of generating still and/or moving images (e.g., JPEG files, analog and digital video formats, etc.).
Techniques for facilitating communication, control, and management of signals and data between different audio/visual (AV) devices have been considered. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0194596 to Srivastana et al. discloses an audio-video platform (AVP) that functions as a master controller to interconnect other AV devices and provide unified control of all the AV devices connected to it. The AVP receives all control signals from users and controls slave mode AV devices via an IEEE-1394 bus and master mode AV set-top boxes (STBs) by using an infrared (IR) blaster, having a command set equivalent to the infrared remote control of the master-mode AV device. The AVP also controls legacy devices via the IR blaster. The AVP includes an on-screen-display (OSD) and provides a unified graphic user interface (GUI) for the connected AV devices. The AVP can transfer compressed AV signals for processing, display them in a common format, and make it possible to display video from all AV devices.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0223732 to Lin et al. discloses a system for interactive video playback, where the system includes a store for holding a set of video streams and an input device for obtaining a set of action inputs. The system also includes a video processor that generates the interactive video playback by switching among the video streams in response to the action inputs.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0181622 to Kiser et al. discloses a system for remotely controlling multiple appliances with a configurable interface for a user. A transceiver device, preferably having an infra-red (IR) receiver and transmitters, samples and stores IR remote control signals from a remote control device associated with an appliance. The transceiver device communicates with a computer having a user interface program. The user selects an interface and associates an input action with a sampled IR remote signal so that by performing the input action, the computer causes the transceiver device to transmit the sampled signal to the appliance. The system provides the user with a master remote control system capable of controlling multiple appliances from a variable, configurable software interface.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0288370 to Rothschild discloses a system and method for controlling an operation of at least one electronic device or appliance. The system and method obviates the need for a user of a plurality of electronic devices, e.g., a television, digital video disc (DVD) player, VCR, etc., to keep track of and maintain a corresponding plurality of remote control devices. The system and method provide the user with a graphic representation of the remote control device for each electronic appliance on a display controllable by a single, easy-to-use, intuitive transmitter. The graphic representations and associated control codes for the plurality of electronic appliances are downloadable via a global computer network, e.g., the Internet. A user can access all of the functions of each of the plurality of electronic appliances with a single remote transmitter without having to manually program the transmitter for each electronic appliance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,452,615 to Chiu et al. discloses media input streams that are retrieved by a notetaking device and referenced for playback. The media streams are from microphones, video cameras, and media players present during a notetaking session. Facilities provided by the notetaking device allow a user to capture stills from the media streams, make annotations, and reference important events that occur during a notetaking session. Thumbnails, snaps, and backgrounds may be created from the input media streams and are used to reference into the media streams which are stored for later playback. A channel changer allows a user to switch between the various media streams during either notetaking or playback. A timeline is automatically generated that references important events, including slide changes, presented during a notetaking session.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,642,918 to Uchida et al. discloses controlling a presentation device coupled to a presentation system using a user interface generated by a computing system. The user interface includes one or more regions which vary in size based on whether the user interface is being displayed. The user interface accepts input from a pointing device to control the presentation device.
Although the above references allegedly propose various techniques for receiving and controlling various data streams and input from different media sources, improvements are desired. It is therefore at least one object of the present invention to provide a novel system and method for controlling a myriad of media devices capable of generating both digital and/or analog signals within a presentation system such as a touch system.